The symptoms of commitment phobia are wide and varied, and are only really limited by the imagination of the commitment phobic person themselves.

Some of the most typical symptoms of commitment phobia involve the commitment to relationships.

Where someone has a fear of committing to relationships, this may happen at the very start of the relationship (or even before), or may develop once the relationship is established

Commitment phobia symptoms often appear as a sudden feeling of uncertainty, and sometimes the feeling of being trapped in the relationship.

In this situation (where the commitment phobic feels the emotional feelings of fear and entrapment), it is often as the result of the partner in the relationship saying that they want to progress the relationship to the next levelâ¦ âLetâs move in togetherâ, âletâs get engagedâ, âwhy donât we try for a baby?â

As already mentioned, there are many, many different ways that commitment phobia can manifest itself, so when we talk about symptoms of commitment phobia, do bear in mind that these are only an indication of the most typical symptoms.

Criticism of a Partner
The person with commitment phobia may be extremely critical of their partner, the environment the relationship is in, or of the relationship itself.

âWe couldnât possibly have a baby, you chose this house... the house is far too smallâ

âWhy do you always have to bring up marriage nowâ¦ you know Iâm stressed at work? - I get more stress because of you constantly pressuring me... it's all your fault â

Using criticism like this is an unconscious attempt by the person with the commitment phobia to deflect the âblameâ off of themselves onto their partner.

âI want to get married one day, but you keep pressuring me too muchâ.

Taking this one stage further, the person with commitment phobia may end up hurting their partnerâs feelings even when no âpressureâ is being put on themâ¦

Hurting Their Partner
Often, this happens when there isnât any âpressureâ on the commitment phobicâ¦ they are just attempting to keep the relationship âat arms lengthâ, even if this means their partner getting hurt.

It can seem like the person with commitment phobia is attempting to sabotage the relationship, even if the relationship itself seems to be perfectly ok.

An example of this would be turning up consistently late for dates or regularly coming home late from work, without offering any reason.

âWell, you know I have to workâ¦ donât keep asking me every time Iâm 5 minutes lateâ¦ just accept itâ.

Of course, sometimes commitment phobia can affect the personâs behavior even before they enter into a relationshipâ¦

Scared of Getting Noticed
Someone with commitment phobia may exhibit behavior very similar to that of someone with âsocial phobiaâ.

This can mean that the person doesnât go out much, avoids social situations, avoids eye contact, or simply appears âshyâ.

The unconscious motivation behind this of course, is that if the person doesnât meet many people, and then doesnât âengageâ with the people that they do meet, then they are much less likely to fall into the dreaded ârelationshipâ scenario.

If approached, the person with commitment phobia will often just reject the advances of the other person, so that any potential relationship never really has much of a chance to get going in the first place.

They just protect themselves from others getting too close.

Unrealistic Ideals
The âdistancing themselves from othersâ technique that we just mentioned however, sometimes isnât enough on its own. It occasionally needs some help from other âreasonsâ for the person with commitment phobia to avoid a particular situation.

For example, sometimes the person with commitment phobia will inadvertently find themselves getting closer and closer to someone theyâve met, without even really noticing it themselves.

Sometimes itâs only when the other person seems to want to progress the relationship to the next level that the person with commitment phobia feels the need to âescapeâ from the situation.

This is where the commitment phobic person may need to employ other techniques of escape. One such method is the âunrealistic idealâ.

They may recognize all sorts of positive aspects in their potential partner, but will still find some standard that the person doesnât match up toâ¦

âyes I know sheâs a lovely person, and that sheâd be a great wife, and that she loves me, and that she does all that charity work, andâ¦.(etc, etc)â¦ but sheâs a Sagittarius isnât sheâ¦ I couldnât possibly marry a Sagittarius!â

âI need a wife whoâs earning a lot more than she doesâ

âIf only she was half-an-inch taller Iâd marry her in an instantâ

When friends and relatives tell the person with commitment phobia that theyâre being âtoo pickyâ and that âMr Rightâ or âMiss Rightâ doesnât exist, the commitment phobic will insist that they do, and theyâll find them one day.

The Unavailable Partner â The Affair
One of the most certain ways for the person with commitment phobia to keep a relationship âat arms lengthâ is to get into a âsafeâ relationship.

One way to do this is for the person with commitment phobia to get into a relationship with someone who, for one reason or another is âunavailableâ to them in the long term.

One way of achieving this, is for the commitment phobic to enter into a relationship with a married person, or someone already in a long term relationship. This makes it very unlikely that the person with commitment phobia will then have to face the prospect of that relationship going any further.

In this situation, they are relying on the fact that it is unlikely that the other person will leave their partner to come to be with them on a permanent basis.

If that person does leave their partner of course, that leaves the commitment phobic with a new problem, which may cause them to resort to some of the other techniques talked about here.

Of course, the âunavailable partnerâ can be unavailable for different reasonsâ¦

The Unavailable Partner â The Long Distance Relationship
This one speaks for itself. The commitment phobic who lives in London and their boyfriend/girlfriend lives in Australia for example.

The commitment phobic unconsciously âknowsâ that the chances of that person giving up everything to travel half way around the world to be with them is very remote. Again, the person with commitment phobia is keeping the relationship at a nice distance.

There are of course, many other ways that the person with commitment phobia can form relationships with people who for one reason or another simply arenât available to them for a full scale relationship. The ones weâve mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg.

They may just form a relationship with someone they âknowâ wonât be interested in them in the long term, such asâ¦

The Commitment Phobic Partner
For the commitment phobic person, forming a relationship with another person who also has commitment phobia is a pretty safe bet. The chances of those two people getting together in the long term are quite remoteâ¦ both partners unconsciously âknowâ this, and actually, this situation can suit both commitment phobicâs.

As they both suffer from commitment phobia, this meets the needs of both people, at least in the short term.

Commitment Phobia and the Long Term Relationship
Of course, everyone is different. One person suffering from commitment phobia might react to it in a completely different way to another commitment phobic.

Each person has their own commitment phobia âtriggerââ¦ the event or stage of relationship that triggers their âfearâ.

Some commitment phobicâs do get into long term relationships, and after being in that relationship for a long time, itâs only then that the âtriggerâ happens, and they feel âfearâ.

At that stage, someone with commitment phobia might describe the feeling of being âtrappedâ in the relationship, or in some way trapped or âpressuredâ by the other person.

If this happens, the person with commitment phobia usually has to find a way to distance themselves from their partner.

In a long term relationship, this can, of course, cause a lot of hurt and upset to the partner of the person with commitment phobia.

The âYo-Yo-ingâ effect in commitment phobia
This can happen when a commitment phobic is in a relationship, but suddenly feels trapped or pressured. Their response is often to ârun awayââ¦. So they might sabotage or end the relationship, even at the expense of their partnerâs feelings.

Once they have ârun awayâ from the relationship, the commitment phobic often starts to feel âemptinessâ. They start to realize that they did love their partner after all. This emptinessâ¦ missing the other person, can often cause them to go back to them.

Of course, once back in the relationship again, and after everything has âsettled downâ, the relationship quickly starts to head back towards their âtriggerâ again.

âNow, before you left we were talking about getting married werenât weâ.

Before you know it, the commitment phobic is off again. Then theyâre backâ¦. Then theyâre offâ¦ and so on.

This âyo-yo-ingâ effect can go on for some time because the partner of the commitment phobic is often just so glad to get them back, that theyâll put up with all the uncertainty in between.

The Serial Commitment Phobic
Another way for a person with commitment phobia to avoid having to become involved in a long term relationship is to form a series of superficial relationships that are almost certainly never going to lead to anything more long-term.

This may give the commitment phobic the appearance of being promiscuous, or overly flirtatious, perhaps having a series of sexual partners for example.

The person with commitment phobia may be labeled by their friends and family as promiscuous, but would rather have that, than become committed to a relationship.

The Fear of Commitment to Anything
Most of this article has been about the person who has commitment phobia and their personal relationships. Of course, we mustnât forget that commitment phobia can affect the personâs commitment to anything.

Someone with commitment phobia might find it difficult to gain job security, being afraid to pursue a career in case they get âstuck in a rutâ.

A person with commitment phobia can feel their commitment phobia feelings come up at any time where they feel out of control, trapped, insecure, pressured, or âswampedâ.

Often the commitment phobic will be afraid of losing their independence, or might fear losing sight of who they really are.

Therapy for Commitment Phobia
As a therapist, I fully appreciate just how common commitment phobia is.

When I look at the stats on my own website, âcommitment phobiaâ is by far the most common search term that people have used to find my website.

However, because commitment phobia can affect almost any aspect of the commitment phobicâs life, itâs often the partner of the person suffering from commitment phobia that contacts a therapist or looks for information on commitment phobia.

Itâs often the partner of the commitment phobic who has to find the information, and seek the help, and it is usually the partner of the commitment phobic who has to pick up the pieces, once the person with commitment phobia has left.

Understanding Commitment Phobia
Commitment phobia can be understoodâ¦ For both the person suffering with commitment phobia, and the partner of the commitment phobic, this understanding of commitment phobia can often make life so much easier.